Michael Foley
Before moving to Hawaiʻi, Michael left a backstage career in London to teach writing in American high schools. He was a research writer, proofreader and copy editor for Britannica, and J.M. Dents Everyman Encyclopedia. His backstage writings are published in Sightlines, the Association of British Theatre Technicians Journal.
His poetry has appeared in Resurgence, KSOR Guide (Ashland, Oregon), Aikikai Newsletter, The Methuen Book of Theatre Verse, and small press publications including Trillium, Fireweed, Crowd, and Fair Requests. A chapbook, Hair of the Barista (2016) was followed by the poetry collection, One Good Ear (2020).
Out of the Blue, a collaboration between Carol Prescott and Michael Foley, was released October 2025. Thoughtful, humorous and passionate, the poems celebrate falling in love and are accompanied by photos showing the beauty of North Kohala.
Michael’s current projects include Tales from the Wings, a memoir of being a stagehand in British theatre, Málaga, Málaga, a memoir in verse and prose, and Skins and Days, a collection of new poetry. He has been a member of Nā Kupuna O Kohala hula halau since 2014.
Website: www.kohalamichael.com
Michael’s Published Books
Out of the Blue: Words and Images from Hawaiʻi Island [with Carol Prescott (2025)
Meeting for the first time at a local farmer’s market, Carol and Michael surprise themselves, each other and every one they know by falling in love.
One Good Ear: poems and prose (2020)
A collection of poems about connections, the poet moves with one ear above the surface, listening, and the other beneath, also listening.
Hair of the Barista (2016)
“…she is Kali she is alchemist of the night/directing her quartet of hands to the power/switches and stainless steel the precious/beans the streams of steaming water…”
